The Journey's Just Begun
by davis-baker
Summary: Sequel to Our New Journey Together. Takes place fifteen years later and follows the lives of Seth and Summer and their kids. Maybe some RT. You don't have to read the other story to understand this one. Please R&R CHAPTER 7!
1. Chapter 1

The Journey's Just Begun

A/N - Thanks for all the reviews for "Our New Journey Together"! This story is the sequel which takes place fifteen years later. You don't _need _to read "Our New Journey Together" to understand this one. Though if you haven't read it yet, feel free to read (and review!!!! lol). Well, here it is; Tell me how it is so far. Thanks!

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Chapter 1 - **Summer's POV **

Some people may say that you probably won't end up with your highschool sweetheart. I think that Cohen and I are an example that proves that that statement is not always correct. You see, Cohen and I have been married for fourteen years. We're only thirty-three; young? Well, it's kind of more complicated. We didn't exactly plan to get married at nineteen. I got pregnant at eighteen and we thought it would be for the best, not only because I was pregnant, but also because we love each other. But, that's a whole different story, literally. Anyway, as I was saying, sure we were young, but you're never to young to find love, right? And believe me, our love tested to be true. I mean, we have been through so much drama. From the dramatic highschool romance, to teen pregnancy, even to near death experiences. But in the end, we pulled through. And all of that stuff doesn't really matter any more because now, Cohen and I are practically happier than we've ever been before. We are happily married with three kids. First there's our fifteen-year-old daughter, Madison Marissa Cohen.

-Oh, wait. That's probably something you're wondering. How I am doing about the whole Marissa situation. Well, it has been almost sixteen years since that tragic night. Things have gotten better and I have learned to deal better, but I don't think I'll ever get over it. I mean, Marissa was like the one person that understood me. I mean, there's always Cohen, but Marissa, she was with me through everything, my good and bad moments. We were best friends forever since the first grade. Forever sure ended rather quickly. I know for a fact my kids would've loved her. Oh, wow, boy do I know how to ramble on and get off topic. That's what being married to Cohen for fourteen years does to you.

Anyway, back to what I was saying, There's Madison, or Maddie as me Cohen and my two other kids call her. When I was pregnant with Maddie, things were sort of difficult. Wait, scratch that, VERY difficult. I was eighteen and during the whole pregnancy Seth was in a coma. Let's just say, our lives were pretty screwed up during that time. Then, on top of all the madness, Madison was born premature. Thank god she was alright. I remember that day as if it were yesterday. Taylor rushed me to the hospital and eventually Ryan, Sandy, and Kirsten showed up. Ryan had to help me deliver her. I found it kinda funny,'tough guy' Ryan was complaining about how I was squeezing his hand too tight. And then she was born, and suddenly all the madness was gone. After gazing into her deep brown eyes, I realized that everything was going to be okay. And it sure was, minutes later, I found out that Seth had woken up!

Madison is like a version of me when I was younger. And I have to admit, that's not always a good thing. It seems to me, that she has a new boyfriend every month, and practically has dated all the popular boys in the school. I'm not too harsh on her though because that would sort of make me a hypocrite in a way. However, I do try to keep a close eye on her.

Next, there's our eight-year-old son, Jake. Him, I'm not too worried about. He's sort of a mixture of both me and Cohen. He loves reading comics and playing video games, however, I like to think that he has a better social life than Cohen.

Then finally, there's four-year-old Riley. One word that she thinks of herself as; princess. Well, she sure is treated like one. Not only does she have Cohen wrapped around her finger, which is totally normal, all of our kids do, but besides him, she has me wrapped around her finger too! Everything she wants, she gets. Maddie and Jake say that I spoil her. I reply by saying I spoil all three of them, but they simply say that I treat her special. I personally think that when the two of them were young, I treated them the same way. Anyway, Riley looks up to Madison, which isn't so good. As I mentioned before, Madison probably isn't the best role model. I already see Riley turning into a mini- Madison- not a good image. I always ask Cohen why both our girls are spoiled little brats while Jake, our only male child, seems to be content with what he has. He just says that Jake takes after him, while the girls take after me. He says that's supposed to be a compliment! I think not! He's basically telling me that I'm a brat! That's so not true... I don't think.

So that's my perfect family. And what about Ryan and Taylor? Well, they're still dating, after many complications. Let's just say things happened, but nothing they couldn't fix. Right now, we're all wondering when Ryan's going to propose. They have been dating for fifteen years! I think it's time! And, Sandy and Kirsten? They're still together in love. The kids love visiting them.

So I guess you can see that my life seems pretty great. Sure, there are complications along the way, but we all get through the problems together. And though we get through all the problems, that doesn't mean that this journey we're on, called life, gets any easier along the way. And every day I wake up it feels like a new journey's just begun.

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A/N - So what did you guys think? Any good? This first chapter was just like an introduction to what has happened over the fifteen years. I don't exactly know what I'm going to be doing with this story. It's sorta like, I just start writing and things just come out. So please leave a review, it would mean so much! Thanks!

**(BTW, I will try my best to update the final chapter of "When Love Isn't Enough", and to update "Isn't Vacation Supposed to Be Fun?" Sorry for the long wait, I've been really busy. I just didn't want you guys to think I forgot about this sequel, so I decided to start posting this.)**


	2. Chapter 2

The Journey's Just Begun

A/N - Thanks for all the reviews! Keep them coming:)

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Chapter 2 -

"Shut the hell up, slut!"

"You shut up, dork!"

"All of you just shut up." Summer sleepily groaned to her children who were downstairs fighting as usual.

"MOM!"

"Ugh..." Summer said getting out of bed, the kids had won...yet again. Summer looked over to the other side of the bed where Seth was sleeping peacefully.

"Hey, where are you going?" Seth asked, waking up from the movement coming from Summer.

"MOM! DAD!"

"Answer your question?" She asked with a smirk.

"Yeah, I guess." Seth laughed as he too got out of bed.

"Well, let me go try and break up what ever today's fight is about," She said as she gave him a kiss on the lips which he deepened, "No," She said pulling him off, "We can't. We have two screaming kids down there and in some time the third one will be up."

"Fine," Seth said giving in, "Whose idea was it to have three obnoxious kids?" He asked jokingly.

"Oh, you know you love them." Summer said laughing.

"That I do. And I love you, too." He said giving her another kiss.

"Cohen, you're being extremely cheesy this morning."

"That's just part of my Cohen charm, I can't help it."

"Whatever you say."

"MOM!"

"Ugh. Let me go see what our 'obnoxious' kids need."

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Every morning basically starts off like that in the Cohen household. Seth and Summer don't really need an alarm clock because practically every day they are woken up by the fights between their two older children, Madison and Jake.

"Mom," Madison whined, "Can you like hurry up, I'm gonna be late for school."

"Calm down. And since when do you like to be at school early?"

"I promised Eric I would meet him today."

"Oooooh, who's Eric?" Jake asked, tormenting his sister.

"My boyfriend, duh..."

"I thought that was Rick or Andy or what ever his name was." Seth said, cutting.

"Dad, that was a month ago...," Madison replied back as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "Well, Andy was last month, Rick was about three months ago."

"I'm surprised you remember all of their names." Summer said joking around with her daughter. This comment made little Riley giggle, although, she probably had no idea what was going on.

"Ugh, mom. And you, Riley, shut up!"

"Make me!" Riley said sticking out her tongue.

"Girls, stop it!"

"Whatevs." Madison said, rolling her eyes.

"Hey Maddie...," Seth started but stopped when Madison glared at him. She hates being called 'Maddie'. She thinks it nothing more than a baby name and hates being associated with it, "I mean Madison," Seth then continued on, "Why don't you bring this new boy, Eric, over here someday. Hey, the kick-off carnival is coming up, what about before you guys go, he stops by here."

"Um... let me think about that... no!"

"Why not?"

"Well maybe because last time I brought one of my boyfriends over here, you chased him away. Both you and Uncle Atwood. You guys asked him all of these really weird questions and freaked him out. That was like the first and -only- I might add, time that I ever got rejected by someone."

"Oh, I remember that, it was priceless." Jake said as a smile appeared on his face.

"How come I was never aware of this little meeting that consisted of you, Atwood, and whatever boyfriend of hers it was?" Summer asked Seth.

"Oh, you must've been out with Riley or something."

"Mom, don't worry," Jake said, "I got it all on tape."

"Oh my god! You assh-." Madison started but was cut off by Summer.

"Hey! Not in front of your sister!"

"Mommy, that's okay," Riley replied sweetly, "She was going to say asshole, I've heard her say it before."

"Madison...I'm going to need to have a little talk with you later." Summer said. Her fifteen-year-old was corrupting her precious four- year- old.

"Yup, later. Because, if you don't hurry up now, we are going to be late. So miss spoiled," She said pointing at Riley, "eat your breakfast already."

"So what if I'm spoiled? You're just jealous because mommy and daddy love me the most!" Riley said defensively.

"Oh wow, you hurt me." Madison replied sarcastically.

Riley, being only four and being very gullible _actually_ believed that she made Madison feel bad.

"I'm sorry Maddie," She said running over to give her big sister a hug, "I was just kidding, I love you." She then said, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"Ew!, Get off of me!" Madison shrieked wiping the slobber from her four-year-old sister off her cheek. This made Riley start crying.

"Mommy, Maddie hates me!" She screamed running into Summer's arms, while Summer gave her oldest daughter a glare.

"Oh, grow up Riley." Jake said annoyed by his sister's dramatics.

"Jake..." Seth said, warning him.

"Sorry." He mouthed back.

"Madison doesn't hate you." Seth said trying to comfort his hysterical four-year-old.

"Can we please go? I'm going to be late." Madison replied, not really caring how upset she made her sister. Summer looked at her sternly.

"Fine..." She sighed, giving in, "Riley, I don't hate you. Now, can we please go?" She asked very anxious.

"You don't?" Riley asked looking up from Summer's shoulder while rubbing her tear-stained face.

"No, I don't."

"Yay!" Riley shouted, as Summer firmly placed her down on the floor.

"Okay, so can we go now?"

"Fine, lets go," Summer said as they all put their dirty plates from breakfast into the sink, "Seth," Summer then said, noticing Seth grabbing his briefcase for work, "Remember? You're not going to work today. Riley doesn't have pre-school and I have errands to run, I told you this like three days ago."

"What am I supposed to do with her?"

"She's your daughter!" Summer said as the two oldest kids laughed.

"Yeah, but she doesn't like anything. She doesn't like to play video games, she doesn't like comics..."

"Those are all things that _you_ like."

"Daddy, you can play dress up with me." Riley cut in, smiling sweetly.

"Yeah, Seth," Summer said after her daughter, "You can play dress up with Riley."

"Oh goody." He replied sarcastically.

"Well, have fun dad." Jake said patting Seth's arm as he left the room.

"Yup, have fun." Madison replied following Jake, trying to hold back a laugh.

"Summer..." Seth whined.

"You sound just like the kids," Summer laughed giving him a peck on the lips, "I'll be back later. Bye, baby." She then said, giving Riley a kiss on the cheek.

"Bye mommy!"

"Hey daddy?" Riley called after the other three left the house.

"What sweetie?"

"Only five months, two weeks, and four days 'till my birthday."

"Okay...," Seth started. _Wow, that was random_, "How long did it take you to figure that out?"

"Daddy! That's mean, I'm not stupid ya know."

"I know you're not baby."

"And... the only reason I told you that was for you to start working on getting me the biggest most bestest present ever!" She said putting her hands on her hips. _Boy is she spoiled._

"I'll get on that right away."

"You better!"

"Hey, that's not a nice way to talk to daddy." Seth said pretending to be hurt.

"I'm just kidding, god!" She said, sounding almost exactly like Madison.

"Good."

"Well, maybe not." She said smiling at Seth.

"Of course you weren't."

"Daddy," She said getting off topic, "I'm bored."

"So what do you want to do?"

"Play dress up." She said taking Seth by the hand and practically dragging him up from his seat.

"Where the hell is mommy?"

"Ohhhh... you said a bad word."

"Yeah well..."

"C'mon." She said already halfway up the staircase.

"Summer..." Seth whined. This was going to be a long day, a very long day.

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A/N - Please Review!!!! Thanks:)

BTW, Drama will be coming up in the next chapter or so, it won't be all fluff!


	3. Chapter 3

The Journey's Just Begun

A/N - Thanks for the reviews!!! They always put a smile on my face: )

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Chapter 3 -

"No!"

"But dad!"

"Madison, I said no!"

"Mom!"

"Hey, don't get me in the middle of this." Summer replied.

"But mom," Madison started, "Dad is being like totally unreasonable."

"Well, what is 'dad being like totally unreasonable' about?" Summer asked mimicking her daughter.

"He doesn't want me seeing Eric anymore."

"Seth, what happened?"

"Now you wanna get in this conversation, sure blame me... it's always my fault."

"Seth, shut up. Madison, what happened?"

"I don't know. Why don't you ask Jake, he should know. I mean he was the one that called dad at work." Madison said, sending a cold glare at her brother who sat at the other end of the room.

"Jake?"

"I didn't do anything!"

"Oh my god, you are such a liar! Dad, tell mom that Jake called you!"

"Um..." Seth hesitated.

"Ugh. Jake probably bribed you saying he would play playstation with you or something if you lied. Just like last time when he broke the laptop and mom thought it was either me or Riley who broke it."

"Yeah daddy," Riley finally spoke up, "I couldn't go shopping for two days because of that!"

"Oh, such tragedy." Seth replied sarcastically.

"Dad!"

"Alright, fine, Jake called me."

"Dad!" Jake yelled.

"Sorry."

"Now I'm not gonna play playstation with you."

"Summer...,"Seth whined, "Why are our kids ganging up on me?"

"Because they know that you're weak, anyway, Jake what did you tell dad?"

"Yes Jake, please share."

"Fine," He replied exasperated, "But, what I'm telling you is the truth."

"Sure it is." Madison cut in.

"Do you mind?" Jake asked after she cut in.

Madison just simply rolled her eyes as Jake went on, "Anyway. Mom, while you were out running errands, I finished my homework so me and Riley were going to play playstation. As we're heading downstairs, I hear giggling coming from who? Madison. So we quietly sneak up behind Madison and right in front of my eyes, mom, right in front of my eyes, I see her and this Eric guy making out. And now, sadly, me and Riley are traumatized for life."

"Okay, that is such bullshit!" Madison screamed after her brother finished his 'truthful' story.

"Watch the language."

"Sorry," She replied with an attitude, "But he is totally lying. That all came from his sick perverted mind!"

"Mommy, what perverted mean?" Riley asked.

"Nothing sweetie. Jake, are you lying?" Summer responded quickly, trying to get off the topic.

"No, that's what my very eyes saw."

"Well you need glasses!"

"Okay, okay, stop," Summer said to Jake and Madison, then turned to Seth, "What did you see when you got home?"

"Well, I didn't quite see much. I mean, they were just doing some homework."

"Homework?!" Summer asked truly shocked.

"Mom!"

"Sorry, just you doing homework is a new concept to me."

"Ugh."

"Sorry, anyway, that's all you saw Cohen?"

"Yeah, but I didn't like this guy... there was something about him..."

"He was doing homework Cohen, what's so bad about that?"

"I don't know."

"Riley, sweetheart, you saw all this?"

Riley just glued her eyes to the floor, not looking up at all.

"Riley?"

"Well, I guess it looks like a little girl won't be going shopping again."

"Okay, okay!," Riley burst, "Jake payed me. I'm sorry Jake, but I want to go shopping."

"Ugh, I can't trust anybody anymore!" Jake said, after Riley confessed.

"See! He just bribes a bunch of people and makes up a load of lies!"

"No, I saw them making out. I just payed Riley to go along with it so it would seem like there were more witnesses. I really did see it."

"He's lying!"

"Okay, enough of this. Enough, I'm getting sick of this. End of discussion."

"Wait, Madison you're not going to see Eric, okay, now end of discussion." Seth said after Summer.

"Ugh, you guys are so unfair!" Madison said walking upstairs.

"Jake," Summer said noticing Jake's smile, "You're enjoying all of this, aren't you?"

"No, of course not. That would be horrible."

"Suurreee. Whatever, just go upstairs, I need to talk to your father."

"Fine." He said, getting up and leaving.

"You too, missy." Summer said, noticing Riley still standing there, transfixed in her parent's conversations.

"But mommy..." She said, giving Summer puppy dog eyes.

"Nope, not gonna work this time..."

"Ugh, fine." She mumbled, as she left the room.

"Cohen...," Summer said as she put her hands around him, "Why are you being so harsh on her?"

"I just don't want her seeing him. I don't like him."

"Hmm... you don't like him. Sounds oddly familiar. Maybe, like my dad? He didn't want me seeing you, but I'd say you turned out to be a pretty decent guy." She said with a smirk on her lips.

"Oh, I see, trying to make me feel guilty..."

"No, it's just, she's young, and she really likes this kid."

"She says that every month when she gets a new guy."

"Seth... What I'm trying to say is, I don't think this problem is with you and Eric. I think it might be something with you and Maddie."

"You mean Madison." Seth pointed out.

"Yes," She said laughing a little, "Madison."

"I guess you're right. It's just, she's growing up too fast. Just yesterday she was a little innocent girl who loved being called Maddie, now she shudders every time she hears that name. I miss her coming to her daddy for help. I just miss her, we used to be so close."

"Aww...Cohen. She's growing up. She's a teenager. That's how they are. You're telling me, that when you were fifteen, you talked to your parents all the time?"

"Well," Seth started, "Considering they were my only friends at that age..."

"Right," Summer reminded herself, "Well, Madison is different. She actually has friends, and I don't mean for that to insult you, but you know what I mean."

"Yeah," Seth said rubbing her arms, "It's just hard."

"So, you gonna tell her that she can see Eric?"

"Um, no! Are you kidding?"

"Cohen..."

"Summer please don't make me..."

"Fine, but I'm not in the middle of this."

The phone then rang.

"Hello?," Summer answered, "Oh my god! No way!" Summer screamed loudly causing Seth to cover his ears. Summer tried mouthing to Seth what was going on, on the other side of the phone, but he didn't understand. Atwood, what? Atwood obviously did something. Minutes later, after Summer screamed a million more times, the phone conversation ended.

"You'll never guess what happened!"

"Okay, what? And can you please stop screaming." Seth winced at the sound of her high voice.

Summer, ignoring his comment, continued, "Atwood proposed!"

"Ryan proposed? To who?"

"Taylor, dumb ass!"

"Oh, wow, really?" Seth asked, much _less_ enthusiastic then Summer.

"C'mon, aren't you happy?"

"Yup, ecstatic."

"Cohen, Ryan's like your brother. Why aren't you happy for him?"

"I am, I am."

"Good. They invited us over for dinner tonight."

"That's great except, the babysitter is away and I highly doubt Madison wants to watch them."

As if on cue, Madison appeared in the doorway, "I heard my name."

"Yes you did."

"Did you decide that I can date Eric?"

"No way!"

"Then what is it you want?"

"Well, honey," Summer started, "We sorta need you to babysit tonight."

"No!"

"Why not?" Seth asked.

"Well maybe because you just told me that I couldn't see my boyfriend. And also because there's a party going on tonight at Diana's house."

"Woah, slow down. Party? I don't think so..."

"Ugh. You guys are totally unfair."

"Oh, wow, look at this. Since you can't go to the party tonight, you have a free night. Looks like you're babysitting. Perfect."

"Um... No!"

"We'll pay you triple."

"There is no way I'm babysitting two spoiled brats on a Friday night!"

"Madison, can I speak to you?"

"Mom, what is it?"

"Um, alone."

"Hey, I don't get to listen?"

"Sorry Cohen."

"Fine..." He said as he left.

"Listen, sweetie, I know your dad doesn't want you seeing Eric. Now this has to be kept a secret between the two of us. I'm going to let you continue seeing him, because, he really doesn't seem like a harm to you. Your dad is well... just being a dad, being very overprotective of his baby. So, just keep it secret."

"Thanks mom." Madison said confused.

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"Okay, well, we're going. Behave for Maddie." Summer said as the door slammed closed.

"Madison!" Madison screamed as she sat on the couch, in between two obnoxious children, "How the hell did I get stuck here on a Friday night?" She mumbled to herself.

"Maddie, do you wanna see the new clothes mommy got me?"

"Hey, Madison, you wanna play PS3 with me?"

"No!" She shouted at the two of them as her cell phone began to rang.

"Hello?," She answered furiously, "Oh, hey Diana, no, I'm not mad at you. Ugh, it sucks. I can't go tonight...Because I'm stuck watching my two obnoxious siblings..."

"Hey!" Jake said, hearing her comment.

Madison took her head away from her cell for a minute, "Shut up! I wasn't talking to you... Anyway," She said returning back to her phone, "I really wanna go... I told you! I'm babysitting...Fine! I'll see what I can do. Okay, bye." She said as she slammed her cell shut.

"Hey, guys," Madison said in a perky voice, both Jake and Riley looked at her strangely because of her sudden mood change, "Why don't the three of us play hide and seek? You guys can hide and I'll try and find you."

"Do I look like Riley?" Jake asked.

"Hey!" Riley said defensively.

"Sorry, but I don't do baby games."

"I'm not a baby!"

"Look, Jake, if you play hide and seek with us, I'll tell mom and dad that you didn't break the flower vase."

"What vase? I didn't break anything."

"Well, if you don't play, then you did break it."

"What? That's not fair."

"So are you in?"

"I guess." He grunted, getting up from his seat.

"Great, so you two, go hide, I'll give you two minutes."

As the two younger kids ran off, Riley more enthused then Jake of course, Madison pulled out her cell dialing her friend's number.

"Hey... ya, I'm on my way." She said quickly as she opened a slight crack in the door, slid through it, and closed it gently, making sure it didn't produce any noise.

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"Madison... It's been over two minutes...," Jake called throughout the house, "Madison?" He asked, trying to find out where his sister was. He then found his four-year-old sister squatting behind the couch, "Riley, get up."

"Shh... I don't want Madison to know where I am."

"I don't know where Madison is!"

"She's looking for us!"

"No, she's not. She's not here!"

"Yes she is!"

"Okay, I'm not gonna fight with a four-year-old. I'm just gonna call mom and dad and let them know Madison isn't here."

"Where is she?" Riley asked, Jake noticing her getting worried.

"I'm sure she's fine."

_Meanwhile:_

"Hey, you made it." A blonde haired _drunk_ girl said, stumbling over to Madison.

"Yeah, like I would ever miss a party..."

"Here..., Drink this." The girl said handing Madison beer.

"Thanks, Diana." She said gulping it down.

"Well, well, if it isn't Madison Cohen." A boy said, coming toward the two girls.

"Ugh, go away Brian." Diana slurred. Brian's the boy in school who's always trying to get every girl, though nobody wants him. Currently, he's trying to get his hands on Madison.

"And how are you tonight Miss. Madison?"

"Well, Brian, I was fine until you came along."

"Ohh... you don't mean that."

"Actually I do." She said as she refilled her cup up with more booze.

"Okay, I'm just going to go then..." Brian said as he looked at the ground walking away.

"Ugh, he is so annoying."

"Tell me about it."

"Madison!" Madison heard the sudden call of her name and turned around to find Eric.

"Hey." She said walking over to him giving him a peck on the lips.

"Hey, why don't we go upstairs, it's a little loud down here."

"Sure." She said as he took her hand.

_Meanwhile:_

"Mom! Madison is gone!" Jake screamed into the phone.

"_What do you mean gone?"_

"She's not here. She told me and Riley to play hide and seek and when she hadn't come to find us yet I got suspicious, she's not here!"

"_Okay, all right, we're coming home." _

_Meanwhile: _

"Much better," Eric said as they entered a bedroom, "What happened with your dad?" He then asked.

"Well, he doesn't want us to be together, but..., my mom said I can still see you."

"Awesome." He said as he leaned in to kiss her, he then deepened the kiss, which led to a heated make out session. He then pushed her down on the bed, as they continued to kiss. He then pushed down her shirt revealing her bra strap. As he pulled on it, she pushed his hand away.

"No..." She mumbled through kisses.

"C'mon, don't you wanna?" He asked as he started to kiss her shoulder.

"No..." She said, as she started feeling uncomfortable.

"C'mon." He said as the kisses began getting more intense.

_Meanwhile:_

Seth and Summer arrived home, panicked. Summer hung up the phone for the millionth time.

"She still isn't answering her cell phone." Summer said as she put her head in her hands.

"I'm sure she's fine," Seth said rubbing her back, "She probably just went out for a little while, you know her..."

_Meanwhile: _

"Please, stop, please." Madison pleaded and he began tearing at her shirt. But he didn't listen, he just didn't listen. She tried pulling him off, but he was just too strong, and she was just too scared and too weak. First her shirt came off, and from there, everything else just tore off, as he hastily continued kissing her over her bare skin. And then, he was in her...

_Meanwhile: _

About an hour passed since Seth and Summer arrived home and there was still no sign of Madison. Finally...

"Oh my god, it's her," Summer said looking at her ringing cell phone, "You're in big trouble young lady..." Summer started but then heard the whimpers of her daughter.

"Mom... ca...can... you...co...come and ...pic..pick me up." Madison stuttered over her words.

"Baby, what's wrong?" Summer asked, scared.

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A/N - So there's chapter 3. Please review!!!! Thanks : )


	4. Chapter 4

The Journey's Just Begun

**A/N - Please read my authors note at the end of this chapter! Thanks!**

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Chapter 4 -

Summer pulled the car over to the curb, her eyes transfixed on her daughter. Madison hadn't told Summer anything over the phone, she just couldn't. How can you tell somebody over the phone that you had just been raped? Though Madison hadn't said a word, Summer knew what had happened. Summer didn't know if it were her daughter's tousled hair and wrinkled clothes, or just the face full of pain and fear that displayed on her face, that gave away what had happened. Summer just sat in the car, staring at our scared daughter, unsure of what to do. She got out of the car, slowly but surely, and instantly wrapped her arms around her daughter. At first, Madison flinched, who wouldn't? You've just been touched in places you didn't want to be touched. But she finally gave in to her mother's touch and hugged her back, sobbing into Summer's shirt.

"Mommy..." Was the only thing Madison was able to whimper, as tears spilled down her face uncontrollably.

"Shh..., it's gonna be okay. Let's go home, okay?" Summer said, still hugging her fifteen- year- old. Madison just nodded her head, no words coming out.

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"Hey, what happened?" Seth asked, as Summer and a still hysterical Madison entered the house.

"I'll tell you later." Summer said quickly as she led Madison upstairs.

"Baby," Summer started after they arrived in Madison's bedroom, now sitting down, "You wanna talk to me?," She asked, wiping away a tear that was running down her daughter's face. Madison didn't answer, "Maddie?" Again she didn't answer, not even to say 'My name's Madison, not Maddie!', because now more than ever, she wanted to be that little five-year-old girl whose name was Maddie. Maddie was an innocent little girl who would have never gotten raped, but Madison, Madison is who she's now, and Madison had gotten raped. "Baby, please talk to me."

"He.. He...," Her voice cracked, "He raped me, mom."

"I know, I know." Summer said sadly, wrapping her arms around her daughter.

"I feel so dirty," She finally spoke up again, "I feel disgusting and I feel violated."

Summer just nodded her head slowly. What was she supposed to do? Her daughter had just gotten raped and now she was so frightened.

"I should of listened to dad..."

"Sweetie, do not blame yourself. Because, this is NOT your fault, and you have to understand that."

"Yeah, but if I had just listened to him. And if I didn't beg you guys then you would have never said I could still se him."

"This is not your fault, and it's not my fault either. It's Eric's fault, you said no."

"It doesn't matter."

"Madison, it does," Summer said sternly, "Now listen, I need to ask you some things."

Madison nodded her head.

"Did Eric use... did he use protection?," Madison thought for a second, letting her tears fall down, then she nodded her head, "Are you sure?," Summer asked once more. Once again, Madison nodded her head, "Okay. Now, we're going to have to file a police report on this guy-." Summer started but was cut off.

"No."

"No? Madison, we need to. You are not going to let him get away with this."

"Mom, I watch a lot of tv and I know that the rapists always get away with it. There's always not enough evidence and they deny it. I'm not going to go through with all that just for the judge to find him not guilty." She said through sobs.

"I think you watch a little too much tv."

"Mom," She sniffled, "Please. I think it will only make things worse."

"Madison, you actually want him to get off the hook? He raped you baby, that's a crime."

"I know. But I don't want to."

"Madison, is there something you're not telling me? You need to tell me everything." Summer said, wondering why her daughter wanted the rapist to get away with it.

"I told you everything."

"Okay, I believe you. I'm gonna go talk to your dad, okay? Let you have some rest, you'll talk to me more about it tomorrow. And please think about telling the police, please."

"Okay mom," She said quietly, "I love you." Summer was taken aback by these words. Teenage Madison rarely used those words to show affection towards her parents. This incident really affected her.

"I love you too. Dad and I are just next door if you need us," Summer said, kissing her daughter's forehead, "We'll talk more in the morning."

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"Summer, what happened?" Seth asked, as Summer stepped into their bedroom.

"She, she," Summer said trying to think of the right words, "She was raped, Seth."

"Oh my god, oh my god," Seth said pacing around the room, "Who did this to her? What jackass did this to her?"

"Er...Eric." Summer said, knowing Seth's dislike towards this kid, even before he had harmed their daughter.

"Eric?! Eric as in her boyfriend, Eric? Eric who I told her not to see, Eric? What the hell was she doing with him after I told her not to see him?" Seth asked all of these questions, outraged.

"Seth, this is not her fault."

"I told her not to see him, Summer."

"This is not her fault, she didn't know he was a harm to her." Summer said, not believing her ears. Was Seth actually mad at Madison?

"Yes, Summer, but that's not the point. I told her not to see him because I knew he wasn't a good kid."

"How the hell would you know?!," Summer asked, starting to get angry, "'Cause I sure as hell didn't! Otherwise," Summer said, lowering her voice, afraid of Seth's reaction would be towards what she was about to say, "I wouldn't have given her permission to see him after you said no."

"What?!," Seth screamed outraged, "I don't think I heard you correctly. You said she could see him after I said she couldn't," Summer nodded uneasily, "I don't believe you, Summer." He said as he started exiting the room.

"Wait, Seth?," She said, trying to get him to stop walking, "Seth?" But it was no use, he was gone.

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Summer went to sleep without Seth by her side. And when she woke up, he wasn't there either. Summer then got out of bed, knowing where he would be. When they had bought the house, Seth fell in love with it because of this one room in particular. It was a closed off area, where only he was allowed. It was just for him incase Summer was having a rage blackout, the kids were fighting and he couldn't deal with the noise, or in this case, he and Summer got into a fight. Summer tried opening the door, but it was locked. The lock on the door had broke once, and know she silently cursed herself about ever fixing it. She gently knocked on it as quietly as possible, trying her best not to wake up her three sleeping children. There was still no answer from the other side of the door.

"Seth," She whispered, "Seth please open up," She knew he was up, whenever they got into fights he never slept, there was still no response, she raised her voice a little, "Seth open the goddamn door!" Seth, knowing the situation would only get worse if the kids woke up, finally caved in and opened the door slightly.

"What do you want?" He asked bitterly.

"Can we talk?" She asked, moving inside.

"Talk." He replied coldly.

"I know that you're upset at me, and at Maddie, but it's not our fault. It's Eric's, and you're just taking out your anger on us," Summer then got distracted when she saw a pile of pictures on the table, "What were you doing?" She asked motioning towards the pile.

"Just looking at old pictures of Madison. When she was an innocent little girl, now...now, she's a slut."

Those words slapped Summer across the face. How dare he talk about their daughter that way?! "How dare you!? Don't you dare talk about our daughter that way! What the hell is your problem!?"

"I made it blatantly clear that I didn't want her seeing this boy. And you..., you just let her go along with it, regardless of what I said!"

"It's called a mistake, Seth! We all make them!"

"But this was a big mistake!"

"Well, you've made your share of _big_ mistakes too, but I don't bring them up. And I don't understand why you're so infuriated with her. She was raped, Seth. Do you know the definition of rape? She said no, she didn't want it. So don't you dare, dare, call Madison a slut!"

"Leave." He said. Who knew one word could come out so bitterly?

"Excuse me?"

"Leave." He said getting up and opening the door.

"If I remember correctly, this is my house too."

"Get out of here," He said once more, "I didn't ask you to come talk to me."

"Fine, be that way. Be selfish, that's what you do best, Seth," She said as she went through the doorway entering the other part of the house, "Jackass." She then slammed the door, forgetting all about her sleeping children. What had happened? Just yesterday their family seemed perfect, sure Madison had an attitude, Jake was his nosey self, and Riley was an annoying five-year-old that you just couldn't hate, but that was who they were, that _was_ who made up the Cohen family. But now, now it seemed like everything was crashing down.

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A/N - I haven't been getting much reviews lately. I mean, I know that people are reading because I have gotten a few reviews (thanks a bunch to those people!) It's just I haven't been getting as much as I would like. I don't mean for that to sound greedy or anything, just ya know, reviews are so important to me and I love them. I'm not asking for a big review or anything, just a short simple one about what you thought of the chapter, if you can, if you can't, I totally understand. So if you can, it would mean so much, to just review!!!!! Thanks so much!!!!!!


	5. Chapter 5

The Journey's Just Begun 

**A/N - A lot of you were shocked and thought it was totally out of character for Seth to call Madison a slut. I agree, it was out of character for him, but hopefully in this chapter you'll see more of Seth's thoughts about this. And I am very sorry if any of you were disappointed. Also, other things in this story will happen that will make the characters seem not like themselves. Well, that's what I have planned. Sorry if anyone's disappointed. Thanks for all the reviews!**

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Chapter 5 -

"Hey Ryan," Seth said brightly, later that day, "How are you?"

"I'm pretty good, ya know-." Ryan started but was then cut off by Seth, who really wasn't paying attention.

"Really? That's good, excellent."

"Okay Seth. What is it? I know you didn't come here to ask how I am."

"Okay...um..."

"Wow, Seth Cohen not knowing what to say? This is new..."

"Haha Ryan, aren't you funny today...But, seriously, I really screwed."

"Seth, man, what did you do?"

"I...I sorta called Madison a...a...a slut..."

"What?" Ryan asked, truly shocked.

"I mean, not right to her face, she doesn't even know I said it... but... oh my god...what did I do?" Seth asked putting his head in his hands.

"Yeah, that's a really good question. Why?"

"I don't know...it's just... you know when we had to leave early yesterday? Well, she was raped..."

"Oh my god, how is she?"

"Truthfully...I don't know. Oh my god, I am such a horrible father."

"Wait, she got raped and that's why you called her a slut?"

"Yeah...sort of."

"Wow, you really did screw up."

"Okay, dude, you're really not helping. I wasn't exactly thinking at the time. I mean, Madison was raped! My daughter was raped! I was so confused and pissed off at the kid who did this to her. I wasn't thinking straight."

"Wait, if you didn't tell this to Madison, who exactly did you say this to?"

"Um, Summer."

"Summer?! You told her that her daughter is a slut?"

"I told you, I wasn't thinking at the time. You think I'm proud that I called my daughter that? Now I'm in a fight with Summer and I'm sure Madison will somehow hear what I said. If I could only go back, I would never say that. I'm such an idiot."

"Why don't you tell Summer that you really didn't mean it...tell her it was a huge mistake."

"I tried...I tried."

_Summer slammed the door shut causing Seth to jump from the loud sound. Did he actually just call his daughter a slut? Seth sat down, speechless. What the hell just happened? Outside Seth could hear tiny sobs coming from Summer. He really is a jackass. Calling his daughter a slut, making his wife cry. Seth just sat down taking in everything that had happened in the last five minutes. He really screwed up and now he was left clueless, not having any idea on how to fix his mistake. So there he sat, watching the minutes fly by, too ashamed to face Summer and the kids. He felt like a horrible father and a horrible husband._ _As his mind continued to ponder, he heard Summer's sobs become heavier. He knew he had to talk to her before the kids got up. He needed to fix things. _

"_Summer." His voice cracked as he slightly opened the door._

"_Go away." He heard her muffled voice._

"_Look, we need to talk...about everything." He said as he walked in front of her. _

"_I don't wanna talk to you, ass." Summer sniffled._

"_Please." He said in a sincere voice. _

"_No! You called your daughter a fucking slut, Seth. Does that mean anything to you? Do you realize how much that hurt me? How much that what've hurt her if she had heard you?"_

"_I know, okay? And I'm sorry, I made a mistake."_

"_Wow...you're admitting you made a mistake...what has the world come to?"_

"_Okay, Summer, there is no need for sarcasm. I'm trying to apologize here."_

"_Yeah, well I don't wanna hear another one of your pathetic apologizes that are meaningless!"_

"_Okay, lower your voice, you're gonna wake them up. And Summer, that hurt me, because when I apologize I mean it._ _I apologize when I' realize I've made a mistake. So you know what? If you don't wanna hear my apologizes fine, but don't come to me and say I didn't try to end this. You're being a stubborn brat, and no, I will not apologize for that because it was no mistake, I meant to say that, and I mean it."_

"She doesn't want to hear my lame excuses," Seth continued, "I just can't believe how stupid I am."

"I'm sure you'll work it out. You guys always do."

"Yeah, but I really hurt her this time. I'm mad at myself too, I mean I called my daughter a slut. What kind of father does that?"

"Hey Ry." A perky Taylor came in, interrupting Ryan and Seth's conversation.

"Hey."

"Hey, Taylor." Seth said after Ryan, giving a slight wave.

Taylor's smile faded as her face turned to Seth, "Seth." She replied bitterly, then turned on her heel, gave Ryan a peck on the lips and walked away.

"By her tone, I'd say she just spoke to Summer."

"Yup, I'd say so too."

"But hey," Ryan started, "There may be a positive side to all of this, maybe now, if Taylor's really pissed at you, she'll take you out of the wedding, I know how much you were dreading it. Hmm, so what do you say?"

"No...thanks Ryan, but it's not helping."

"I tried." Ryan said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Ugh, what am I going to do?"

"I have not a clue."

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"Mom," Jake said, "Where's dad?"

"I don't know." Summer replied quickly, brushing off the question.

"Okay," Jake started, confused, "Do you know when he will be back?"

"No, Jake, stop with all the questions!"

"Sorry mom," He responded, taken aback by her sudden mood swing, "I'm just going to go to my room."

Summer ran her hand through her hair, frustrated. She was taking her anger for Seth out on her kids. Before she had snapped at Riley when all the little four-year-old was doing was rambling on about some silly cartoon that was playing on the television. Summer yet to have yelled at Madison. Mainly because Madison locked herself in her room for the whole day. Summer tried numerous times to get her to open but she just wouldn't. Summer really needed to calm down. She was way too stressed. She made her way into the bathroom, washing her face with lukewarm water, trying to get herself together. From the corner of her eye, disrupting her thoughts, she saw the medicine cabinet open. And then she saw it, a whole bottle of painkillers. She took the bottle out and after a minute of examining it, she placed it back, laughing off the thoughts that were running through her mind. She then towel dried her damp face. She then stared at the pill bottle again. '_No_,' she thought to herself, '_I'm not dumb. I can't do this. This happened to Marissa and she almost died. I have a family, I can't do it._' She stared at it once more. And then, without another thought, she popped the cap, poured some into the palm of her hand, and then swallowed them, no water, no nothing, just the pills running down her throat.

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**A/N - That may seem unlike Summer, and I'm sorry if people don't like what I did. All I can ask is for you guys to continue reading and reviewing. I'm really depressed because unfortunately, The OC is ending its four- year run tomorrow. The only thing I can think of at the moment, that will cheer me up, are reviews, and tons of them! So, everyone, I hope you enjoy the ending of The OC, and please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

The Journey's Just Begun

**A/N – Thank you for all the reassuring reviews! As you can tell, I am very neurotic, and when people don't review, I think that nobody is reading my story. So please, please, please review at the end of this chapter. Thanks!** **Btw, most of this chapter will be in a flashback which is in italics. **

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Chapter 6 -

Summer's eyes fluttered open. When her vision became clear again, she noticed she was in a pale white room and Seth was sitting in a chair that was next to the bed she lay on. Seth's face, full of worry, finally noticed Summer's consciousness.

"Oh my god, Summer, you're up."

She was in the hospital...

_After about an hour, the pills that Summer swallowed were finally getting to her. Beads of sweat ran down her forehead as she tried to stay conscious. She felt like dying. Both from physical and emotional pain. She still sat in the bathroom, the place where she had taken the pills, the now almost empty pill bottle lay on the floor cap-less. At that exact moment she felt as if her whole world was crashing down. Piling right on top of her. She felt like throwing up...she felt like dying. She tried gripping to anything that was in reach, just to try and gain any sort of stableness, but she couldn't. Her emotions of pain were taking over her whole body. Her vision, now a blur, could barely make out the figure that was standing in the bathroom door way. It was Jake._

"_Oh my god, mom? Mom, are you okay? Mommy?" He asked, not really caring if he was about to cry, after all, he's only eight. He took one last glance at his mother, making sure it wasn't just his imagination before running to the phone, his hand moving rapidly, dialing Seth's number as quick as he could._

_It was ring after ring, no answer. Finally..._

"_Jake?"_

"_Dad, you need to come back. Something's wrong."_

"_I'm sure what ever it is your mom can fix it..." Seth said, not noticing the fear in his son's voice._

"_No dad, something's wrong with mom." And that's all it took for Seth to get off the phone and head back to his house._

"_I'll be right there," Seth's said quickly as he then snapped his cell phone shut, turning to Ryan, "I gotta go, something's wrong with Summer. I'll call you later." He rambled quickly, got up and walked towards his car, leaving Ryan there, trying to figure out what the hell Seth had just said._

_Seth ran every red light he came to. It was a miracle that he hadn't recieved a ticket- or gotten into an accident-. When he arrived home, fear rose inside him and he panicked. What could possibly be wrong with Summer? Could this thing be caused by the fight they had had? Well, he was about to find out. He quickly slammed the car door shut, pulled out his house keys, and practically ran inside, knowing something was definitely not right. When he first entered the house, it was totally silent, like nothing was wrong, but he could definitely sense that there was indeed something. But then, he heard small whimpers coming from the bathroom. As he followed the noise and finally reached the destination, he gasped. He didn't expect that this was the thing that happened. _

"_Oh shit." He mumbled under his breath, not caring that his eight-year old son was standing right behind him. He quickly pulled out his cell phone and dialed 911. After a few minutes on the phone, the conversation finally ended as he squatted on the floor next to Summer. As he held her in his arms, trying to get consciousness, still having no idea what had happened, he spoke rapidly to Jake._

"_Your sisters are upstairs?"_

_Jake nodded, his eyes full of fear, "I-I did-didn't wanna leave her." He stuttered. _

_Seth nodded and then spoke again, "Look, I'm going to have to go with your mom to the hospital, tell Madison that she needs to watch you and Riley, okay?"_

_He nodded again._

"_I'm proud of you Jake," Seth said just as the doorbell rang, "That's probably the ambulance, but go ask who it is before you open the door." Jake followed Seth orders as he ran towards the door. The paramedics came and lifted Summer up on a stretcher. Seth looked down on the floor just as he was leaving and saw the pill bottle, the almost empty pill bottle. _

"_Daddy?," He then heard coming from up the stairs, interrupting his thoughts about the pills. He looked up and saw Riley, with tears streaming down her face, "Daddy, what's wrong with mommy?" _

"_Sweetie, I don't know yet, but daddy has to go be with mommy now, Maddie will watch you, okay?"_

"_But daddy...-." Riley whimpered, but Seth was already out the door, they needed to get Summer to the hospital as soon as possible._

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"_Is she okay?" Seth asked as he saw the doctor come out of the hospital room. Summer arrived at the hospital an hour ago and he still had heard no word on how she was doing. During that hour he just sat there, waiting impatiently, thinking that he might have been the reason for the pills, of course that was him guessing that she had actually taken the pills. Summer isn't stupid though, he would try and remind himself, she wouldn't do that to their family...Would she?_

"_Mr. Cohen, please follow me," Seth got up on his unsteady feet, nervous as hell, wondering how his wife was doing. They finally entered a vacant room where the doctor continued talking, "When we got to your wife, she was in critical condition. If we had gotten there possibly a moment later, she may not have made it," Seth gulped, "We noticed the cause of all this. She had several pills in her system. If we came to her a short amount of time later, she may have suffered kidney or heart failure. You're very lucky your son found her. We pumped her stomach, everything should be fine now. But, Mr. Cohen, are you aware of your wife's addiction."_

"_Truthfully, I didn't know. I really don't think it's an addiction, just a one time thing, she has been under a lot of stress. But then again, she could have an addiction that I just didn't notice." Seth stated shaking his head. _

"_Well, once she wakes up, I think you should talk to her. Maybe even a therapist, we will be bringing someone down from the psych ward shortly after she wakes up. I would even consider rehab." Seth just nodded, considering all of the options that were presented to him. _

"_Thank you doctor."_

"_Okay. Well, she's in room 214 if you want to wait in there for her to wake up."_

_Seth nodded as he walked out of the room. All these emotions and thoughts were running through his head. Summer had od'ed! Taken nearly a whole bottle of pills! Why? Why would she do this? She could have died. Seth was so mad, shocked, sad, worried, and a whole bunch of emotions he didn't even know how to describe. He sat down in the chair beside the hospital bed, glancing at Summer's pale body, and then put his head in his hands, thinking of what to do next. Hours passed and Seth still sat there. Over the hours, he had called Ryan and Taylor, Sandy and Kirsten, and the kids making sure they were all okay. Which they were. Of course Seth hadn't told his kids what had happened in full detail, only Jake knew that information. But how could he tell his kids over the phone? Madison already had enough things to deal with, and Riley, well, she's probably too young to even understand what overdosing is. Breaking the silence, he heard a cough...Summer awoke..._

"Oh my god, Summer, you're up," She coughed again, "What are we going to do, Summer? What are we going to do?" He said sadly as he took her hand in his.

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**PLEASE REVIEW!!!!! THANKS:) ALSO, READ AND REVIEW MY NEW STORY, 'YOU'RE MY DESTINY'**


	7. Chapter 7

The Journey's Just Begun-

**A/N - I am SO SO SO SO SO sorry for the long wait. I've been busy and I have been updating some other stories that I have. Hopefully now, since I have spring break, I'll be able to update more. But that depends on the amount of reviews I receive and also if I have writers block, which I get like every freakin' second which sucks (writer's block is also a reason I haven't updated). So, once again I am extremely sorry and:**

**PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, REVIEW! THANKS :)**

**(BTW, about Summer and o.d.ing and stuff, I'm really trying to make it as realistic as I can, I'm sorta young so I really don't know about that kind of stuff. Sorry if you don't like it.)**

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Chapter 7 -

For a good few minutes, Seth and Summer just sat there, in complete silence.

"Why?," Seth asked, breaking the silence, not staring Summer in the eyes, "Why would you do this?"

"I..I don't know."

"That's not an answer Summer! What are we gonna do? You could have died, Summer! Do you realize that?" Seth said outraged, running his hands through his curly hair.

"I know." She replied, scared, taken aback but his angry voice.

"Oh, so you're fine with it, that's gre-."

"No, Seth-."

"Did you think about them?" He asked her, cutting her sentence off.

"What?"

"Did you think about the kids?

"I..."

"Summer! You could have fucking died! You have three kids! They would have been so devastated if anything serious happened. They would be beyond devastated, we all would, I don't even know what would have happened. I can't believe this, I can't believe you! What the hell are we going to do!?" Seth rambled on, outraged.

"Seth, I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I don't know what else you want me to say!" Summer burst on the verge of tears.

"Tell me why...why the hell would you do this to our family..."

"I don't know why, Seth! It was a mistake, okay! We had this huge fight and I just couldn't handle it." She said as a few tears streamed down her face which was now red caused from stress and screaming.

"So you fucking o.d.? That's just stupid."

"I didn't know what to do."

"Summer! We could of talked things out. There are plenty of things that go before o.d.ing, I'm sure of it!"

"I know! Can you please stop yelling at me? Okay? I understand I made a huge, huge, huge mistake! I know. And I'm sorry. I was so stupid and I wasn't thinking and I'm just so sorry, I don't know what else to say." She cried as her sobs got louder.

"How long?" He asked, finally looking into her teary eyes.

"How long what?" She stuttered.

"How long has this been going on for?

"Cohen, it was only this once, I promise you, and I promise I won't do it ever again," She said looking him straight in the eyes as her tears continued to fall, she then lowered her voice, "I'm sorry."

"I know," Seth said, his voice not as cold as it had been before, "I know."

"Mr. Cohen...," A doctor appeared at the doorway, "May I have a weird with you?"

"Yeah sure," He placed a kiss on Summer's forehead and stood up, "I'll be right back."

"Mr. Cohen, have you made your decision about sending your wife to a rehabilitation center," The doctor said once the two were outside of Summer's hospital room, "We have a nice facility not too far from here and I could call to see if you can bring her in."

"Um actually, I think she'll come home. She said she only did it once and I believe her."

"Okay, but be sure to keep a close eye on her."

"I will."

"She should be able to go home in a few hours."

"Okay, thank you." Seth said as he reentered the room and returned to his wife's side.

"You gonna send me away?" Summer asked, not looking Seth in the eyes.

"No. I'm not. Because I believe you...that you only did this once. But please Summer, please don't ever do that again."

Summer's eyes started tearing up, "I'm sorry. I love you."

"I love you too," Seth said as he wiped away a few of her tears then placed a soft kiss on her lips.

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"You okay?" Seth asked Summer as his eyes still stayed focus on the road.

"Yeah, um, I'm fine, just tired."

"Okay, when we get back you'll go to sleep." Summer nodded, sighed, and closed her eyes.

'Something's definitely wrong.' Seth thought as he pulled into their driveway.

Seth quickly pulled the keys out of the ignition and got out, slamming the door. He quickly walked over to Summer's side, opening the door for her, making sure he was there if she needed help.

"You need help?" He asked, lending his hand out.

"No, I'm fine." She said quietly.

"Are you sure?"

"I said I'm fine," Her voice came out cold without her realizing, "Cohen, I'm fine. Thanks." She said and gave him a small smile. She hates being treated like a baby.

"No problem." Seth said as he stepped aside giving her room to get out of the car.

Seth placed his hand on her back and guided her to the front door. Summer was going to say something but then decided it would probably be best if she didn't.

"Mommy!" Was the first sound the two heard as a rambunctious four-year-old ran towards Summer.

"Riley, sweetie, mommy doesn't feel so well so maybe you should let her get some rest."

Riley, at Seth's words, stopped from running as her bottom lip began to tremble.

"But...I...I...just want...wanted to say hi..to...mommy..." The little girl said as her eyes began to water.

"Seth," Summer said, taking her eyes off her crying daughter, "It's fine."

"Are you sure? You seem pretty tired."

"Yeah, I'm fine," Summer said, walking over to her daughter and placing her on her hip, "Hey baby. I missed you."

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"Dad is mom okay?" Madison asked as Seth stood in her bedroom doorway.

"Yeah. She's going to be fine...She's sleeping right now."

"What happened? Jake wouldn't tell me."

"Madison, your mom, she overdosed...on painkillers."

"What?! You're joking right?"

"No." Seth replied shaking his head.

"Oh my god. She could've died."

"I know, sweetie, I know. But she didn't. She's fine. And that's all that matters now."

"But what if she does it again? And the consequences are worse? What happens then?"

"She said she would never do it again. That it was only this once and that's it."

"But you don't know if she's telling the truth."

"You're right. I don't. But all I can do at the moment is trust her...that's really all we can do right now."

Madison nodded and then spoke up again, "Dad."

"Yeah?"

"This is sorta off topic but, you never, um, you never really spoke to me about what happened with ya know, Eric." She said quietly as her eyes began to water.

"Um, yeah, listen. Your mom and I both want you to take this guy to court. We want him to get caught. What he did to you is so wrong and I'm not quite sure if you understand that. Look, Madison, you're a very smart girl and by you not doing anything about his actions, you're just letting him get away with it. And I'll have to admit, I was mad at you and your mother at first about you still seeing him, and...I did say a few things I definitely regret, but thinking about, it's one-hundred-percent Eric's fault. Because this all could've happened before I said you couldn't see him. Who knows? So I really want you to think about the court thing, because I don't want this guy getting away with this. Okay?"

Madison nodded and wiped a few tears away from her eyes. "I'll think about it."

"Okay, that's all I ask," Seth said as he gave his teenage daughter a hug, "I love you."

"I love you too."

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"Summer...you feeling better?" Seth asked as he entered their bedroom, sitting down on their bed where Summer lay, her head face down in the pillow.

Summer lifted her head up revealing her tear stained face.

"Baby, what's wrong?"

"I..I think I wanna go." She managed to say between sobs.

"Go where?"

"To the rehab center."

"What?"

"Seth, I'm not sure if I can trust myself here. And I wanna go so I can make sure I'm all better and that this thing will never ever happen again. I wanna make sure I can trust myself and never hurt you guys like this again."

"Are you sure? Positive?"

"Yeah."

Seth took a deep breath and spoke, "Um, okay. I'll call them and let them know."

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"Kids," Seth called out, "come say bye to your mom."

Jake and Riley came down the stairs. Where's Madison?

"Where's Maddie?"

"Upstairs in her room."

"I'll go get her." Seth said.

"Mom," Jake spoke, breaking the uncomfortable silence, "Why are you leaving?"

"Kids, your mom needs to get better. Once I'm sure I'm all better, I'll come right back home."

"I don't want you to leave, mommy."

"I know Riley, I don't want to leave either. But I have to. But don't cry," Summer said as her own tears starting filling her eyes, "Because I'll be back before you guys know it."

"You promise?"

"Of course. Now listen, Jake, you have to take care of your sisters now because we all know that your dad can't. And Riley, try not to torture daddy too much. Just, behave for him you two, because he's going to be under a lot of stress," Summer saw the frowns on her two younger children, "Guys, please don't be sad. You probably won't even miss me. There will be nobody telling you to clean your rooms or do chores. When I come back, you guys will wish I never left that place. Now don't cry, 'cause then you're gonna make me cry and we don't want that. I love you guys." Summer said giving them both hugs.

"We love you too, mommy."

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"Madison...," Seth tried the door but it was locked..., "Please open up."

"What do you want?" The brunette opened the door the slightest bit.

"I wanna talk to you?"

"What?" She asked exasperated as she let Seth into her room.

"Why are you acting like this? A few hours ago you were fine."

"That was before I found out mom was leaving."

"She wants to go, Madison, she wants to make sure it will never happen again."

"Earlier you said she was fine."

"Look, she just changed her mind two hours ago."

"Why? Why are you letting her go?"

"Because I want her to get better too. I don't want her to hurt herself again. Isn't that what you want, too?"

"I don't want her to leave. This family is already screwed up, imagine when she's gone..."

"Madison, what would you like me to do? I don't understand."

"Don't let her go."

"Sweetie, she has to. Of course there's a part in all of us that doesn't want her to go. We love her and we'll miss her. But then there's the other half that wants her to go because we want to make sure she doesn't do it again. And, you and me, we have to stay strong for Jake and Riley, because they probably don't know what's going on. It'll be hard, but the four of us will get through it. Now, can you please come downstairs and say goodbye to your mother?"

"No. I'm not supporting this."

"Fine be stubborn," Seth said walking to the door, "You don't know how heartbroken you're making your mom."

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"Where is she?" Summer asked as she saw Seth appear at the top of the staircase.

"Um, she won't be coming down."

Seth saw the major disappointment in his wife's eyes.

"Oh, um, okay." She replied trying to fight back tears.

"Sorry, babe." Seth said as he put an arm around her.

"Yeah, well...we should get going. I love you guys."

"Bye mommy."

"Bye mom." The two replied, giving their mother a final hug.

"It's going to be okay, Summer, it will." Seth said as they walked outside. She didn't say one word, not one. And that's the same way their car ride was too. And then they were there. Seth was about to open the car door when Summer stopped him.

"Maybe, I should, um, go in alone."

"What? Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I think it will be better that way."

Seth nodded.

"You're gonna be okay, right?" She asked him.

"Yeah...we'll all be fine. What about you?"

"I think I'll be okay. I'll miss you guys, but it'll be fine."

"You're doing the right thing, Summer, you are."

"I know. Um, Seth, I want you to talk to Madison, about the whole thing with Eric. I want her to talk to someone about it. Okay?"

"Yeah."

"And Jake and Riley. Well, just make sure that they stay the same because I don't want to come back to a house where they're all different."

"I don't think we have to worry about Jake and Riley. I promise you when you come back, they'll be fighting."

She gave him a small laugh. "Good. And, um, you. Cohen, I'm really sorry about this all."

"It's fine, Summer, really. Let's just forget about it all. Just get better, okay?"

"Yeah, I will."

"Okay, well..." Seth signaled the end of the conversation.

"Yeah, I should, um, I should go." She started tearing up.

"I'll call you as soon as I can."

"I'll be waiting by the phone."

"I love you."

"I love you too." He then gave her a passionate kiss.

"Bye Cohen." She said a few seconds after they parted.

"Bye Summer." She opened the car door, shut it, went to the trunk and pulled out her bags. As she walked by the car again, Seth saw that she was now crying. She lifted her hand up and waved, and mouthed 'I love you', as he did the same.

She then continued walking past the car as he watched her walk away. A lot of things were about to change...they both knew it.

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**A/N - So, I'm not really sure if I liked this chapter but I really wanted to get something out because it's been so long. I hope people are still reading! Please review! Thanks!**


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